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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23038723">Earth, Fire, Water, and Bone</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucdarling/pseuds/lucdarling'>lucdarling</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Stranger Things (TV 2016)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Demons, Alternate Universe - Magic, Billy Hargrove &amp; Maxine "Max" Mayfield Have a Good Relationship, Demon Summoning, M/M, Minor Maxine "Max" Mayfield/Lucas Sinclair, Protective Maxine "Max" Mayfield</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 14:53:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,205</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23038723</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucdarling/pseuds/lucdarling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Billy draws the circle carefully, following the array laid out in the first dusty book he grabbed off the Academy's shelf. No one is more surprised than he when the candles flare and a form stands in the middle, blinking. He's summoned a demon for help, because there are no options left.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Billy Hargrove &amp; Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington &amp; Maxine "Max" Mayfield</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>229</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Summoning</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Chapter 1 was written for Day 2 of Harringrove Week of Love, Witch/Magic AU + Marking, originally posted on Tumblr 12 February 2020.</p><p>If you recognize the characters, they aren't mine.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Are you really a demon? You don't look like one." Billy squints in the candle light. It’s true, whatever he had summoned was whipcord thin, dressed in a polo and jeans that had a tear in the right knee. The demon looks like someone Billy would pass on the street.</p><p>"Your basement is small, I didn't feel like getting my horns stuck in the ceiling. Dustin would never let me live it down." The demon sighs and brushes his hair back. Billy doesn’t even see a shadow of claws, just trimmed nails. "No one tells you how annoying supplicants can be."</p><p>"So, what do you need?" The demon stares at Billy sitting on his heels outside the circle because he’s still a little dizzy after all the candles flaring. The demon spins around the room to take in all the summoning accoutrements and the circle he found himself in.</p><p>"Hang on," the demon says, and sounds more upset by what he’s noticed than being summoned in the first place. "Why did you use an Earth based summoning? Any idiot with eyes can tell you're aligned with Water. The hell are they teaching in that Academy?"</p><p>Billy could only shrug. It's not a surprise he got something wrong, not when he's only been consciously using Magic for a few months and tried the first ritual he found in a library book older than he was. "It's cornfields and forests as far as the eye can see. No one's tested me for any affinity." </p><p>The demon hums and takes a step closer to the edge of the circle. "Water, definitely." He seems pleased by this. "So what do you want, surfer boy so far from home? You want me to send you back? I could, you know."</p><p>Billy swallows at the thought of seeing the ocean, tasting the salt air again. He wants that more than anything. But Max had begged him to help. She never asks for anything.</p><p>"I'd love nothing more," Billy confesses, and rubs a hand over his face. "I can't. I need your power."</p><p>The demon laughs and it goes straight to Billy's stomach, warming him from the inside. "Nope. I'm not that kind of boy and I don't think the exchange is something you could afford."</p><p>"There's something here," Billy explains in a rush. "Something old and awful, it's in the forest, Max said. A kid's gone missing, farms are dying and the Academy just thinks if we memorize enough Latin we'll be able to keep our heads down and go on our merry way like the adults in this stupid town. Well that's not gonna work for me, not when my sister and her little party are caught up in this up to their necks."</p><p>The demon stands up straight at Billy's words. His brown eyes narrow, flickering like embers. "Children? Missing, harmed, dying?" The demon's voice is a growl reminiscent of thunder.</p><p>"Probably," Billy responds, biting his lip. He doesn't know for sure. He wipes at his nose because it's bleeding again.</p><p>The demon softens, bends back down to peer at Billy's pale face. "Next time, please find a water based ritual. You won't tax yourself near as much. I’d say you could also bind yourself to me but no one ever wants to go that far."</p><p>Billy huffs a laugh. He feels wrung out and like he could sleep through tomorrow. "Sure, I’ll take advice from a demon. Sounds like something I should definitely listen to."</p><p>"You're a child."</p><p>Billy protests. "I'm nearly 18."</p><p>The demon rolls his eyes. "A literal child. Definitely don’t bind yourself, youngling." He bounces on the balls of his feet and Billy notices the incongruous sneakers on the demon's feet. He wonders idly if there are hooves in the canvas and figures it’s rude to ask. </p><p>"Okay, monster in the woods and you need me to take care of it." He cracks his fingers and rolls his shoulders back. The demon didn't exactly look eager for a fight but Billy thought he seemed more prepared than when he had first appeared, utterly surprised that Billy wasn't some kid named Dustin. At least the demon had stopped shouting and swearing when the fact had sunk in long moments later.</p><p>"I can totally do this. Just need something from you first."</p><p>Billy is immediately suspicious even though the book had talked about exchanges, one-sided and equivalent. He had been careful not to name himself, or ask the demon’s name so far in their conversation.</p><p>"Like what?" His voice cracks at the end of the word. He hates the way the demon is looking at him, like he can see all the broken parts of Billy and wants nothing more than to fit them together.</p><p>"I assume you're gonna be part of this fight?" The demon states patiently, hands loose by his sides. Billy shakes his head because of course he's gonna help out if he can. It's got nothing to do with responsibility and more about the fact that Max is family so if she's involved, Billy's gonna be there too.</p><p>"Great," the demon responds with a smile and Billy returns it automatically. "We can settle up later. What are we waiting for, besides for you to break this stupid circle? I promise not to do anything to you and yours that you won't enjoy, blah blah."</p><p>Billy chokes on a laugh, hand hovering over the chalk line on the floor. "I don't think that's how the disclaimer goes."</p><p>The demon pouts and his lips are plush and pink, Billy notes with a stirring in his gut. "How would you know, I'm your first demon. Time’s a-wastin’ anyhow, the town isn’t gonna save itself."</p><p>Billy doesn’t have a timepiece but figures that’s true enough, he was supposed to meet Max and friends in the forest clearing an hour after they’d split up from the diner. He rolls his eyes and breaks the circle with a single particular finger outstretched.</p><p>"Message received," The demon smirks and Billy realizes that the teeth on display are very sharp. He hopes he hasn’t made a mistake but all the demon does is calmly step over the chalk line and head straight to the stairs. "Let's go, surfer boy! Monsters wait for no magic user or demon and Hawkins is already reeking of their stench. They've been here for a while, I can't believe Dustin didn't say anything. He summoned me last week to help with his runes homework of all things." Billy follows mutely as the demon continues to rant, hands gesturing, at the ignominy of being summoned for homework and tips on getting the girl when it should be clear the demon could just as easily get the girl. Literally.</p><p>"How do you know so much about the town?" Billy finally asks when the demon is in the passenger seat of his Camaro and they're speeding down the road to meet Max and the others. The demon had told him where to turn minutes before Billy had reached the corner of Maple, and didn't seem surprised by the overly large pit that Billy has heard used to be a mall when they passed by. First time visitors always have wide eyes and want to know the story.</p><p>"Oh," the demon murmurs, looking out the window. "I grew up here. Or almost here, it's a weird very long story."</p><p>Billy parks the car at the edge of the clearing, and notes that Max and her little friends are already gathered. They look smaller than usual, trees looming behind them.</p><p>The passenger door shuts with a quiet click and the curly headed kid gives a delighted shout. Billy is head-first in his trunk, digging for the tire iron he knows is somewhere to use as a weapon.</p><p>"Steve! What are you doing here?!" The kid sounds surprised.</p><p>"I heard you had a monster problem, kid. I'm here to help, brought by the very lovely water mage since you said absolutely nothing about Hawkins being under attack.” His voice rises to a shout at the end, echoing off the trees and Billy grips the tire iron in one hand. He remembers that as nice as Steve appears, he is still a demon. Steve continues in a softer voice, “All of you tiny human gremlins who I'm unfamiliar with please stand to the right of Dustin."</p><p>Billy watches as all of Max's friends line up, some of them eager. Steve stares at them and in the blink of an eye, is right next to who Billy thinks is Nancy Wheeler's brother at the end. He wraps long fingers around his wrist and squeezes. </p><p>Everyone shouts and Wheeler's surprised laughter rises above the noise.</p><p>"It's fine guys, it just tickles!" Steve releases him and everyone under the age of 15 crowds around his wrist, now adorned with a curling vine. It moves under everyone's wary gaze and the kid laughs again. Billy isn’t sure he’s ever heard the tiny mage laugh.</p><p>Steve chuckles and marks the other two boys while they are distracted. He pauses, meeting Billy's eyes before taking ahold of Max's wrist.</p><p>Billy nods his head, he can’t do much else when all of her friends have already been marked. Plus, someone so clearly with Fire in them might be of use in a forest.</p><p>Max shivers when Steve lets go and smiles down at her wrist. Billy can’t see what now adorns her skin but it’s not a vine even from where he stands, which makes him think that everyone’s mark is different.</p><p>Steve steps up to Billy when all the kids are comparing their marks. "You get something special, since I figure you're taking point in this fight. Don't want to hit you by accident. We still have to seal the deal, too."</p><p>Before Billy can react, there are warm lips against his, dry and slightly chapped. He kisses back on instinct, letting Steve pull him closer. His body is warm, like standing next to a bonfire on an autumn night. The demon’s happy hum when Billy’s tongue touched the seam of his lips made Billy's toes curl in his boots. They part and Billy leans down to pick up the tire iron he didn’t remember dropping. He feels energized, ready to unleash hell. Literally, with a demon next to him. </p><p>"There we go, paid in full, my water mage.” Steve smiles and there’s something soft in his eyes. Billy wonders if he now has a mark on him like the others, and isn’t sure what it would look like. He wants to kiss Steve again. “Let's go kill some monsters."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Deal</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Max is so tired of waking up in the middle of the night, trying to block out the sounds from Billy's bedroom. Dustin has the ritual space set up in his room and she knows Steve will help. Fire is easy to call and Max makes a deal to save them both.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm sure people wanted the fight scene but have a time skip instead.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dustin’s room smells like electronics, sugar, and sweat; now it also smells like smoke. Max hopes she’s done this right, takes comfort in the fact that Lucas and Dustin are on the other side of the bedroom door. They promised her they wouldn’t interfere but if she shouts, they’ll come bursting in to the rescue. She doesn’t plan on needing it. She hasn’t seen Steve in over a year, not since that introduction and fight in the forest, but summoning him feels easy.</p><p>Steve appears in what is inarguably <i>his</i> corner of Dustin’s room. There’s a navy bean bag and cans of soda stacked to the side next to a pile of alchemy texts that Max knows belong in the restricted section. She idly wonders how Dustin sweet-talked the librarian into checking them out, but her attention is drawn by Steve uncurling from his space on the beanbag.</p><p>“You’re not Dustin,” Steve states.</p><p>“I wasn’t sure you’d appear if I tried somewhere else, and besides, these pathways are well trod,” Max says and Steve blinks. Max doesn’t see the point in making something harder than it has to be and Dustin has used these pathways to call Steve for almost two years. She would be surprised if another demon could even use them at this point.</p><p>It’s been over a year since she’s seen Steve directly but his swoop of hair and dark brown eyes are nonetheless familiar. The mark he had placed on her faded three weeks after that night in the forest and Max doesn’t let herself miss it, not when there’s so much to learn at the Academy. Not to mention teaching the normal things to El who grew up surrounded by magic.</p><p>“Where’s Dustin?” Steve asks, eyebrow raising. The circle is unbroken but Max knows it won’t stop him for long if he thinks his supplicant is harmed. She’s still inexperienced and Steve is probably very old.</p><p>Max holds her hands up in a sign of peace, pacifying the growl in Steve’s question. “He’s fine, they’re both outside.” She jabs her thumb at the closed bedroom door. “I just, I needed to ask you something and Dustin said you would come here.”</p><p>Steve relaxes at her reassurance and the bean bag shifts as he settles down into it. “Ask away, fire brat.” His fingers twitch on his thigh while Max pauses and gnaws on her lip, gathering her thoughts.</p><p>“You’re a guardian, right?”</p><p>Steve hums noncommittally. “I can be, for the right price.”</p><p>“And you like my brother?” Max asks her next question in an even tone and she smirks when Steve’s eyes widen. For a demon, his face is incredibly telling.</p><p>She glares at him when he opens his mouth to refute it. “Don’t try to lie. I’ve heard you in his room before, at night. After-” she breaks off. They both know why Billy never summons him until after the front door has slammed shut and the truck has turned the corner toward the local bar that only serves humans.</p><p>“Yeah,” Steve confirms quietly. “I like Billy.” The candles at the cardinal points of the circle crackle and pop with his words. Max feels a sliver of hope grow within her like a spark catching flame. She might pull this off.</p><p>“So if I make a deal,” Max continues after a deep breath. She’s so quiet that even Steve with his non-human hearing has to lean in. “Will you protect him? Or-” her hands clench into fists, nails biting into her palms but not enough to draw blood. That would be a stupid thing to do and Max isn’t stupid. She can’t afford to be. “Or could you take care of the problem?” </p><p>Max confides that ‘the problem’ has been getting worse,the words fall like glass from her mouth, jagged and cutting her open. It’s the first time she’s said the words aloud. Her eyes sting and Max tells herself it’s the smoke, but Steve doesn’t mention it when she raises a hand to wipe at them.</p><p>Steve nods slowly, thinking it over. He runs a hand through his hair, only for it to flop over in his face a few seconds later.</p><p>“Protect Billy from a monster,” His lips curl around the words like they’re something sweet, something to savor.</p><p>“What will this cost?” Max brings them back to the terms because Lucas has almost literally hammered it into her skull while she was researching rituals that Steve is still a demon despite Dustin’s cries of friendship, and demons need a balance. </p><p>Steve looks at her. They both know this is something heavier than the advice Dustin summons him for. Max juts her chin as he stares through the flickering, hazy light and scowls back.</p><p>“Deals are quid pro quo,” Steve responds, almost lecturing her while Max fidgets under his heavy gaze. “I can take something from you, or you can give something.” He rushes on when Max opens her mouth to say the first thing that pops in her head. “<i>Don’t</i> say you’ll do anything. Don’t you ever say that.”</p><p>Max shakes her head with a scoff. “I’m not stupid.”</p><p>“Could have fooled me,” Steve chuckles like they aren’t bartering for something that would get her expelled from the Academy and yeah, Max can see why Dustin looks at this demon and sees a friend. He makes it easy, treating this deal like it’s nothing more than asking for a bag of potato chips. “You still like the arcade, those video games?”</p><p>“Yes,” Max digs in her jacket pocket. “I’ve got nearly seven dollars in quarters.”</p><p>“I don’t want your money, have no use for it.” Steve smiles and there’s not anything nice in the expression. Max can feel her own face fall in disappointment.</p><p>“Time,” Steve concludes after a moment of silence, snapping his fingers.</p><p>Max’s eyes widen and her nails dig into her palms again, determination strumming through her like a plucked guitar string. “How much?” She doesn’t want to give away years of her life but if it means Billy finally has peace for once in his life, it’s what Max will do. She's still young enough it won't matter much.</p><p>Steve hums again and Max is cautious about breaking his concentration but charges on ahead anyhow. “Can I call Lucas and Dustin in? I’m sure Dustin has made plenty of deals but Lucas would appreciate the opportunity to learn, he’s a nerd like that.” She can’t hide the fond laughter her words bring, calling her boyfriend a nerd is tame on the list of nicknames she has for him. Max also knows this is big, bigger than she originally thought or planned on and her first instinct of rushing in, figuring out details later will not serve her well.</p><p>Steve waves a hand and the bedroom door opens. Max laughs out loud when Dustin literally falls into the room and Lucas stands behind him, hand over his face.</p><p>“We weren’t listening in!” Lucas assures Max and she grins at him as he flops down next to her. Dustin picks himself up and bounds over, already talking excitedly about whatever he was doing while Max was in here with Steve. It’s nice to break up the weight of earlier but they need to get down to business before the sun comes up.</p><p>“Terms of the deal,” Max cuts in and brings their conversation to a sudden halt. Dustin and Steve turn in unison to look at her and that’s mildly creepy but she’ll think about that later.</p><p>“One week out of the arcade,” Steve says, and he smiles with his sharp teeth on display. Max feels a little better about the sudden thumping of her heart when Dustin shivers beside her. She wonders how often he sees this side of the demon, especially if his stories of weekly hang outs are true.</p><p>“That’s-” Max starts to say but Lucas cuts her off with a gentle squeeze of his hand over hers.</p><p>“One week on our time, or your time? Do demons measure time differently?” Steve looks grudgingly impressed and also like he thinks Lucas is a little shit for bringing up possibilities. It makes Max grin at her boyfriend.</p><p>“Time as measured by you,” Steve agrees. “Starts now.”</p><p>“It is 11:03PM,” Dustin proclaims loudly and everyone in the room hushes him before his mother can overhear and wander in. “What? This is vital information to have!”</p><p>Max can’t disagree, when the visions of top score leaderboards dance in her head. Overall, a week isn’t anything at all.</p><p>“What else?” She questions Steve and if her tone is hostile, she can’t help it. This is far too light for what Steve has agreed to do, even if neither of them said out loud what the likely result of Steve’s guardianship will be. Max is looking forward to never seeing her stepfather ever again, to sleeping through the night without being disturbed by the sickeningly familiar sound of flesh against flesh.</p><p>She jerks away from Lucas’s sharp elbow and glares at him. He glares back, making a motion with his hand across his throat and she rolls her eyes at him.</p><p>“What are you doing?” Dustin cries aloud, panic clear on his face. “You don’t ask for more when there’s a deal on the table! She didn’t mean it!” He tries to appeal to Steve, who doesn’t even look at him because he’s staring intently at Max.</p><p>“You’re right,” Steve says with a shrug. “A week really isn’t enough.”</p><p>“What else do you want?” Max spits, impatience crawling up her spine.</p><p>“No arcade for a week as agreed and a month without communication.”</p><p>Once again, Lucas cuts in before Max can agree to the details. “Communication in what form? No use of her voice, of writing messages, of smoke signals?”</p><p>Now Steve focuses his considerable attention on Max’s boyfriend. “It’s not that I think she would warn anyone, but there is always a price to pay. Communication means so many things.”</p><p>“It does,” Lucas agrees and leans forward. “Who can keep a blank face for a month, if facial expressions count? It’s impossible.”</p><p>Steve smiles again, sharper than before and then Max can’t feel her face. It’s there, she knows it’s there but it won’t move. Her hands fly up to pat at her cheeks while Dustin stares at her in undisguised horror. Lucas’s face twists and Max shrieks. It’s a thin sound, muffled. Her face won’t move. She feels trapped, looking out from the face of a blank doll.</p><p>Steve snaps his fingers and Max is fine, is normal and she bursts into a fit of sobs. She hates crying and she can’t stop even though she gulps deep breaths of smoky air and presses her hands against her eyes until she sees black spots. Lucas and Dustin both pile on top of her for a group hug. They stay locked together until Max pushes them off and makes faces just to assure herself she still can.</p><p>“I’m fine, it was just startling. If that’s what he wants, it’s fine. I can live with it for a month.” Max breathes deep and reminds herself that she can do anything for a month, for what Steve is going to do for her and for Billy.</p><p>Steve’s brown eyes look at her flushed face, the tears drying on her cheeks and shakes his head. “Two minutes to say what you want to your boyfriend here, and Dustin I guess,” he shrugs with a smirk, back to the older brother figure he wears so well. “Then I’ll take your voice. Only the voice.” He directs the last towards Lucas, who sits backs with naked relief.</p><p>“This isn’t an invitation to start an argument and say that you win because I can’t argue back,” Max immediately tells Dustin, who looks offended. “And you’ll need more than a week to beat my high scores, I’m sure.” Before he can reply, she turns to Lucas and throws her arms around him.</p><p>“You’re the best, thank you for helping me.” She wants to say more, to say so much more but Lucas hugs her back tightly and it’s enough for now.</p><p>Max raises her head from where it’s buried against Lucas’s warm skin and Steve nods his head. She nods back, shaky with nerves and the weight of what she’s doing pressing down on her.</p><p>“Two minutes are up,” Steve announces and Max opens her mouth to make a sound, just to try it. She can hear the exhalation of air but Lucas’s name goes unheard. Steve looks satisfied. “See you in a month, Maxine.” He winks and somehow, she feels grounded even though it’s a totally dorky move and he used her full first name which normally makes her itch.</p><p>The candles flare and Steve is gone when the light dies down. Max feels a wave of exhaustion overtake her, tilting backward with no warning. Thankfully, Lucas catches her and Dustin runs to get her some juice and crackers.</p><p>It takes another hour of literal hand holding and punching the pen through paper twice in frustration before the boys let her bike home in the early morning hours. Max opens her mouth to scream as usual when she flies down the hill, now soundless as the wind whips her hair back.</p><p>She sneaks into her room to drop her things before making her way into the bedroom next to hers a few moments later. Billy stirs when she closes the door behind her.</p><p>“You’re gonna be okay,” Max mouths when she’s laying next to Billy, head propped on one arm. She doesn’t dare fall asleep here but she can stay for a little bit, let him know he’s not alone. Her other arm is flung over his chest, almost definitely pressing on some bruises but he doesn’t tell her to move so she doesn’t. His curls are limp against the pillow and Max smooths them away from his face as his eyes slide shut again.</p><p>“I made a deal.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Binding</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>They could have done this in Hawkins, but Steve also knows Billy aches to go home. Needs to do this where he can gather the base parts of himself to give to Steve because home is still surf and sunlight and sand covering everything, even years later. </p><p>“I don’t want to own you, I want a partner.” Billy says. “Be mine.”</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I raised the rating to M which hopefully makes up for both the cheese ending and the length of time it took between posting chapter two and this one. Thank you so much for your patience.</p><p>Another time skip, some six or seven years from chapter two. This is the final chapter, but I'm not closing the door on possible time stamps.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Steve stays in the passenger seat of the Camaro for most of the drive, knees up to his chest. He doesn’t need to sleep, but Billy refuses to let him drive his baby. He thinks about putting on a show, puts one hand on his collarbone to get it started and then draws it back to press against the sun-warmed window. Now isn’t the time. Maybe later, when everything is done.</p><p>They could have done this in Hawkins, but Steve also knows Billy aches to go home. Needs to do this where he can gather the base parts of himself to give to Steve because home is still surf and sunlight and sand covering everything, even years later. </p><p>Steve still hasn’t taken him there, even though he offered on their very first meeting in the basement.</p><p>There’s been other places though, like the first crossroads in America for Billy’s 19th birthday. Burning the steelworks, abandoned in this life as it was in Steve’s previous, was a memorable 21st.</p><p>Max and the rest of the no-longer tiny mages graduated some weeks ago. She and Lucas are already seeing the world together as part of the US Mage Corp. Dustin will head for more school in the New England region as the trees die to bring in autumn. Steve has promised to pop in at least once a month.</p><p>And it will be popping in, not a summoning like it has been in the past.</p><p>Steve knows that Billy is aware of what he’ll receive from this: strength, life, more power than he could have previously dreamed of because Steve has that in spades.</p><p>He knows what Billy is giving up: a chance at a normal life, because when a demon dogs your steps, everyone is aware. Everyone who has even the slightest affinity for magic will be able to tell what Billy has done, it’s going to leak from every pore that he made a one-time deal with no take backs. Billy says he doesn’t mind, and Steve knows that’s true. Billy has always been one to make his own path, like water cutting across a boulder. Steve gets a lot of enjoyment from watching other people be worn down in the face of his stubbornness and refusal to change.</p><p>They arrive just as the sun sets and go directly to the beach. Billy looks exhausted, dark circles under his eyes but he kicks off his shoes and walks into the water until it’s at his knees without a pause. Steve watches from the sand and wonders if he’s ever seen the mage this peaceful. Not even when Billy had finally realized what Steve had done, the enormity of Max’s deal as a reckless teenager with too much love and passion, brought him to look like he does now.</p><p>Steve doesn’t want to break the picture Billy makes, waves breaking around him with a quiet rhythm but the moon will start its descent sooner than they think. He coughs and Billy turns to smile at him. It’s breathtaking, devastating.</p><p>“We’re losing time,” Steve calls out and Billy shakes his head, curls flying in every direction. </p><p>“There’s a cove I want to use,” Billy says, and walks at the water’s edge to lead the way. Steve follows right beside him, the same place he’s been for years now. The space Billy leads him to is sheltered from the wind, a pile of wood stacked against the rock the only thing giving credence that this is a popular spot.</p><p>It’s deserted tonight, they have the whole stretch of beach to themselves. Billy doesn’t question it and Steve smiles to himself as Billy wanders around, hefting driftwood and scooping up seawater. He’s done so much for his water mage but it’s these little actions he thinks he likes doing best, the ones that make Billy’s life easier and hardly garner any thanks.</p><p>Billy prepares the circle, dragging driftwood from further up the beach to the cove. Steve paces, gnawing at a thumbnail. It’s a bad habit he picked up from someone, somewhere.</p><p>“You sure there’s no book on this?” Billy checks again and Steve has to laugh. It’s a low sound and it would be cruel coming from anyone else. Instead, Billy bares his teeth and Steve wonders again how lucky they were to find each other.</p><p>“There are books,” Steve allows. “But the best rituals are the ones from your heart. You know that.” Steve doesn’t want to be bound like others before him, conscripted into painted lines on wood floors and flaring candles. There’s no imagination in that.</p><p>He wants something <i>real</i>, some of that passion Billy keeps bottled up to shine through. So Steve’s a secret romantic, who’s gonna tell? No one is going to be able to even think about getting close enough after tonight.</p><p>“If it feels right, include it.” Billy shrugs and kicks at the sand. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he admits, voice quiet. Steve takes two large steps and wraps him up in an embrace on the wrong side of too tight.</p><p>“Won’t happen, lovely.” Steve says this like a promise even though he would do a lot of things that might hurt if it meant Billy would be safe, would be protected, would be loved. Luckily, Steve’s a demon so there’s not much that can actually hurt him.</p><p>Billy looks over the circle. There’s salt-encrusted driftwood, a bowl of seawater reflecting the moon's light, and candles in grey, blue, and red. It looks peaceful, like something used for a blessing and not the next part of Steve’s life. Not like it’s going to be ending Billy’s life as he knows it.</p><p>“Right,” Billy nods to himself and draws the silver knife from its place on his belt. “Gimme some blood.”</p><p>Steve definitely doesn’t squawk at the order. “You don’t own me yet, boy.” He lets his eyes darken, just to remind the mage who he will be dealing with for the rest of his life.</p><p>Billy only sighs in response. “I’m not going to own you, stop saying that.” An expression of what might be hurt flickers across his face and Steve looks away first. “But you’re a part of this too, Steve. Sure, you’re represented in the candle but the rest of this is me. It needs to be <i>us</i> to truly work.”<br/></p><p>Steve hums and holds out his arm. Billy cuts him, drains him into the bowl he holds like an offering. A sacrifice. Steve still marvels that he’s someone's first choice for forever.</p><p>Billy cuts himself next using the other side of the knife just in case of trouble. He’s already playing with fire by not cleansing it first, but Steve knows it’s about to get a lot hotter.</p><p>They strip, clothes folded neatly on the rocks that barely break the wind’s chill. The wind dissipates as soon as he steps into the circle and Steve smiles, hand wrapped around Billy’s warm human one.</p><p>“Ready?” Billy asks, and his eyes are so dark, blue nearly swallowed by pupil.</p><p>In answer, Steve lets the candles flare in a negligible expenditure of power. Billy closes his eyes, hand tightening on Steve’s to the point it would break bones as he focuses inward.</p><p>There’s no need for chanting, what they’re doing doesn’t need to be spoken aloud. Steve knows the books are wrong. It’s pure intent, a bending of will and coming out on top. He’s prepared for a fight, knows his water mage will give him a good one. The odds might even be stacked in his favor, with the ocean so close.</p><p>Steve doesn’t get the fight he expects. Billy opens his eyes after a long minute, and the wind rises to a howl outside their cove. His blond curls writhe like they’re alive, mirroring Steve’s own, but the cold doesn’t reach them.</p><p>“Be mine,” Billy asks. He’s calm, standing still even as the water in the bowl trembles. Steve is shocked speechless. He loves that Billy keeps him on his toes but this is more than even he expected. More than he imagined.</p><p>“I don’t want to own you, I want a partner.” Billy says. “Be mine.” He asks again.</p><p>The cut on Steve’s arm stings like a criticism as he searches to find words. The silence isn’t a denial and they both know it. Billy smiles, teeth on display even with his hair in his face and his own cut dripping onto the sand between them. </p><p>Steve crosses the distance, bringing their bodies together. It’s the start of an answer, not enough but the only thing Steve can do while his tongue trips over air and his brain sends up fireworks.</p><p>Billy’s cock is a hard length against Steve’s own. His hips rock up and Steve’s arms finally move, winding around Billy’s waist to pull him even closer.<br/></p><p>His blue eyes are dark and wide, staring into Steve like he wants to devour him. Billy raises himself onto his toes, hands clutching Steve’s shoulders and digging into his skin.</p><p>“Be mine,” he whispers against Steve’s lips, punctuating with another slow roll of his hips. Third time's the charm in most fairy tales and Steve knows it’s just as true here even with no prince to be seen. Steve groans and finally kisses Billy, all teeth and heat and fizzing warmth bubbling over.</p><p>“Always,” Steve murmurs against his lips, against the pulse of Billy’s throat, scraping sharp teeth over delicate skin. “I am yours and you are mine.” It’s a promise, one that Steve won’t ever break. His body is straining to contain his power. He can feel his horns press up and through skin in a flash of barely felt pain.</p><p>Billy looks awed and proud and fierce, hands reaching out to stroke over the curl and the point of them. Steve shudders at the touch, so gentle and more than he ever thought he would get.</p><p>Waves crash against the shore behind them as Steve presses his mage to the sand, covering his body with his own lean one. Billy lays down, golden skin washed out by moonlight and cock hard against his belly. Steve ruts down, instinct taking over in a familiar song that they’ve performed a hundred times before.</p><p>Billy comes first, crying aloud and letting Steve chase his own impending high. He tastes salt in the air, or maybe he’s crying, it’s almost too much for this form to contain. Billy doesn’t look away as Steve comes, incandescent splashes marking what’s his.</p><p>He groans low in his throat as Steve coaxes him through a second time, sweat pooling at his clavicle and in the planes of his abs. Steve laps it up, his sweat and seed, tongue drawing ancient words no one knows anymore onto Billy’s skin. The candles are long melted, and Steve watches as they sink into the sand like they never existed. They’ll gather the driftwood and give it back to the ocean once they both can move.</p><p>The wound on Billy’s arm heals in time with Steve's as the demon rocks back on his heels. The wind has died down, the waves returning to their gentle susurration. Billy’s head thumps against the sand and he flexes his fingers.</p><p>The water in the bowl jumps out to dance above it and Billy laughs. His pupils are blown out and Steve realizes his mage is drunk on the power exchange. He plays with the seawater, fascinated like a child with a new toy.</p><p>Steve runs his claws carefully through mussed curls, putting them in some semblance of order. His own hair is a lost cause without a mirror, he’s already resigned himself to that fact. “Are we sleeping on the beach?” He wouldn’t mind.</p><p>His pull to nature, to the ocean so close by is stronger now - exactly what Steve expected. The moon’s pull on the tide slots nicely into the awareness Steve already had of Billy, of Max, of Dustin.</p><p>“No, got a room,” Billy mumbles and drags his body upward. It looks like it’s an effort. Steve helps him, one hand under his elbow and another cradling his head.</p><p>They stand there, Billy on unsteady feet. Steve wrap an arm around his waist, holding him tightly. The tide is coming in fast and Steve knows they should go. Neither of them move, content to stay for just one more minute together in this space they built, magic mixing into one strand that will never be broken.</p>
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